Eren left me alone in his room, taking his phone off of the bed with him. I sat on the floor and observed my surroundings. His room was painted a light tan color; there were no photos or posters on the wall. His furniture was similar in color to the floor: everything was a deep brown color. The room was lit by a tall lamp in the corner that gave everything a warm and comforting glow. There was a striking contrast between the bright white light streaming into the room from the crack under the bathroom door. There was an old maroon rug by one side of his bed and a laundry hamper by the other. If I could describe his bedroom in one word... it'd be plain. Much different than I expected from an animated and overly-emotional person like Eren.

I tried to make myself comfortable. I spread out the food on the floor evenly as Eren had done once for me, and clutched the letter I had written firmly in my hand. I tried to relax and slow down my heartbeat. It didn't work. What was my plan? To read him this letter out loud? To hand it to him while we ate? To give it to him before I left? I had no idea what I was going to do. So, while I heard the water stream down from the shower, I prayed.

Unfortunately, my thoughts kept drifting from my prayer to imagining Eren in the shower. Watching the water trace his athletic frame as it hit him, or seeing his head tilted back as he washed the shampoo out of his hair. Or, how his shoulder and arm muscles would flex and relax as he rubbed soap over his body... I choked— Stop it! Just stop! You can't go back and forth between whichever guy you want!

I argued back with myself, But, it's been a month since Jean and I were together! I mean, were we even together? We never put a label on it...

I switched sides again: It doesn't matter! It's too soon! Don't—

I heard the bathroom door open and immediately lost my train of thought. Thankfully, Eren came out dressed, so I didn't have to worry about having any more intrusive thoughts about him. He was wearing his navy blue AOT Soccer sweatshirt again. At this point, it was hard to believe he owned anything else.

"Hi again," I waved awkwardly. Dude, seriously. Get it together.

Eren looked down at the food I had prepared and bit his lip. "Looks good." He sat across from me. "Although, I'd consider this plagiarism... Surprise Tupperware dinners are sort of my thing," he smirked.

"Fine. If I ever write an essay about it, I'll make sure to cite you as my source," I replied, opening the lids that contained the different foods I had prepared. "However, unlike you, I brought plates."

He smiled to himself as I handed him a plastic plate. Both of us started picking at random pieces of food. Not once did Eren question my choice of meals. We ate in silence, but it wasn't awkward. In fact, the silence was less awkward than the talking. I almost preferred it this way.

Finally, once we had finished dinner, Eren broke the silence. He stared at the empty plate in his lap. "You know," he said, "You didn't have to come here just to apologize. Your text was enough."

"No," I argued, "I don't think it was... And neither is this, really— it'll take months to repair the damage that I've done— but," I sighed, "I figured this would be a good place to start." Eren opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off: "If you think I'm only doing this because I feel bad about your father leaving— you're wrong."

He ran his fingers through his dark hair and sighed. "Okay. Then, what's your reasoning? It's awfully convenient that you chose to apologize when I'm feeling my worst."

I took a deep breath before speaking. "It's because... I finally read your letter." Eren's eyes widened in surprise. I pulled out the bag of Madeleines from my backpack. "Here's my proof. I haven't tried them yet, but I followed the recipe you gave me."

He hesitantly grabbed a Madeleine from the bag and took a bite. His nose scrunched up. It looked like he was trying to hold his true expression back.

"Well?" I asked.

"Terrible. Absolutely terrible," he grinned.

I laughed. "I guess, since we're on the topic of apologies, I apologize for those," I motioned towards the poorly crafted Madeleines, "too."

We smiled at each other. I stared into his teal-green eyes and saw a shimmer of happiness, but only for a moment. His face reverted back to the serious expression he had been keeping up all night. He pulled up the left string of his hoodie and popped the plastic part in his mouth. It rested on his lower lip. He didn't bite it like usual.

Do I give him my letter now? Or do I wait? It seemed that the tension that still lingered in the air wouldn't disappear unless I finished my apology.

"Why are you sitting so stiffly? I know it's been awhile but—" Eren's eyes widened in fear as he heard the footsteps walking down the hall towards his room. The string from his hoodie dropped from his mouth. "Mikasa!" he panicked, looking around anxiously for a hiding spot. As I mentioned before, his room was very plain and empty, and there weren't a lot of options for places I could go.

"What about the bathroom?" I whispered hurriedly. The footsteps drew nearer.

"No time to do that quietly— Mikasa has exceptional hearing, she'll notice if someone closed the door." Eren's eyes moved frantically across the room. "Just get under the sheets. The cushion of the bed should be quiet enough."

My face turned pink at the idea. His bed?! I can't be seen there!

Even so, it didn't look like there were any other options. Stay out and say hi to Mikasa, get my head, and potentially Eren's, ripped off— or get over my embarrassment and get under the covers. Figuring Mikasa's fists would hurt much more, I stepped carefully to the bed and covered myself up while Eren rushed to sit at his desk. In a flash, he jumped up and locked the door before sitting back down.

"(Y/N)!" he whispered, "It's so obvious you're hiding there!"

"Well, what do you want me to do?" I argued back.

"Just— ugh, here!" I watched from underneath the covers as Eren sprinted across the room and picked up the laundry hamper.

Just then, there was a knock at the door: "Eren?" Mikasa asked.

"What?" Eren asked annoyedly. Is this how they always talk to each other? Suddenly, I felt the comforter get much heavier. It seemed that Eren had covered the bed with his dirty laundry to disguise my very obvious figure. I wasn't sure how I felt about this.

Mikasa tried to open the door. It was still locked. Eren threw the hamper on the floor and rushed to unlock it. Mikasa pushed the door open quickly and peered into the room.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Working," he replied shortly, referencing the pile of unfinished homework that was stacked on his desk.

"I heard you talking."

"I was on the phone with Armin."

"That doesn't seem like a very efficient way to get homework done," she said matter-of-factly.

"He was helping me with homework!" Eren replied agitatedly.

Mikasa's eyes scanned the room. "Okay. Carla's worried about you, by the way." Her eyes stopped at the bed. I held my breadth. "Maybe do your laundry, so she knows you're still a functioning human being," she said.

"Fine!" Eren replied sourly. "Anything else?"

Mikasa looked away. "I suppose not." She walked out of the room. Eren closed the door behind her.

"You can breathe now," he said. I instantly inhaled the hot air under Eren's sheets. It smelled like citrus. I had forgotten this smell. Citrus and nutmeg with a hint of mint. Suddenly, I felt cool air wash over my face as Eren flung the covers off of me.

"Sorry I had to throw my old laundry on you," he apologized, then cringed, "That must have been a bit gross."

"I don't mind," I responded a little too quickly. Eren raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "—Nothing touched me," I recovered.

His face relaxed and he fell onto the bed next to me. He put his arms behind his head and crossed his legs, looking at me with his beautiful teal-green eyes. I saw that the left hoodie string had made it back into his mouth and smiled in my head. It was a bit cute— that little quirk of his. I could feel his breadth lightly on my face and the heat radiating off of his body. The soft golden light from his room highlighted his figure like the rays of heaven. (Well, that was a bit dramatic.) But, it was so encapsulating. For a moment, I lost myself, all of my attention focused on every perfect detail of Eren. His sharp jawline, his perfect teeth, his soft lips that I had kissed once before... oh how soft and nice those lips were if only I could have another taste maybe then he'll—

He snapped me out of my daze: "Well then— what's your plan?"

"My plan?" I looked at him, confused. Then I realized. "Oh! My plan! For why I came here— of course!"

I bit my lip anxiously as I tried to make up my mind for what I should do. I decided to bail completely. There was no way I could give him this letter. He was too beauti— no, that wasn't my reasoning; stop it, (Y/N)— I was too nervous. Eren was too intimidating and the moment had passed. I couldn't spend another minute next to this boy, otherwise I might explode. I hopped out of his bed abruptly. Eren stared at me, surprised.

"That's it!" I tried to say confidently, "That was my plan! Dinner! Together! Just us!" I backed away towards the window. "So, guess I'll be going now! Bye!" Eren just watched silently from the bed as I struggled with the latch.

"Here," he said, getting up and sliding the window open. I smiled sheepishly. Eren raised an eyebrow. "Bye, I guess..." He looked out the window towards the ground, "Have fun getting down."

I didn't answer. I pushed myself through the window and climbed back down to the first floor. I heard the window slide close above me.

Why did I have to panic?! It made everything so much worse! I criticized myself in my head as my feet reached the grass of Eren's front lawn. From there, I jogged quietly back home, replaying all of the awkward moments in my head. Speaking of awkward... I thought.

I fumbled my pockets for the letter I had written to Eren. It wasn't there. I threw my bag off my shoulder and unzipped it as I continued running.

"Eh?" It wasn't there either. Then, I made a crushing realization: "Oh no."